Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Chef Chad Minton Named New Executive Chef for Pacific’s Edge at Hyatt Carmel Highlands

Steve McNally, General Manager for Hyatt Carmel Highlands announced today the hiring of Chef Chad Minton as the hotel’s new Executive Chef.

Carmel, CA, October 01, 2014 - Steve McNally, General Manager for Hyatt Carmel Highlands announced today the hiring of Chef Chad Minton as the hotel’s new Executive Chef. “We are fortunate to have a culinary team as passionate about their work as they are experienced and professionally trained,” Mr. McNally says. “And in Chef Minton, we are bringing our dining experiences to the highest levels for our guests. We are proud to welcome a Chef of his stature to the Hyatt Carmel Highlands and our restaurants Pacific’s Edge and California Market.”


Chef Minton comes to Carmel with an outstanding record of culinary achievement, beginning with the Shoreline Grill at the Four Seasons in Austin, Texas. He relocated to San Francisco where he worked at the Ritz-Carlton under Chef de Cuisine Gary Danko. At that property’s Terrace Room, Minton became intimately familiar with traditional French provincial techniques and cemented his undeniable passion for cooking. His talent earned him a promotion to the Ritz-Carlton Atlanta and was elevated to Dining Room Sous Chef under Chef de Cuisine Olivier Gaupin. Later in his career Chef Minton would return to the Ritz Carlton Hotel Company at their Mobile Five Diamond Marina Del Rey property as Executive Chef earning him the distinction of the only cook in the company’s history to work his way up from Apprentice to Executive Chef. It was here that he achieved every chef’s lifetime goal of earning a Michelin Guide recommendation for his restaurant, Jerne.

Chef Minton’sfirst experience with Hyatt came as Chef de Cuisine at the Grand Hyatt San Francisco. During his tenure there, he was a regular guest of Narsi David’s Cooking Classes at Macy’s Cellar, catered charity events in Napa Valley and San Francisco and conducted private dinners for the Pritzker family and Robert Mondavi. Chef Minton is also proud to have hosted an American Institute of Wine and Food gala dinner where he had the honor of meeting that organization’s esteemed co-founder Julia Child. Chef Minton then assisted in the re-opening of the Hyatt Regency Vancouver property following a twenty-million-dollar renovation in 2002, becoming the Chef de Cuisine at the newly created  Mosaic Bar and Grill.

Chef Minton’s desire to return to Hyatt was met with a move to New York City as Executive Chef at the Andaz 5th Avenue, Hyatt Hotel’s ultra-chic, lifestyle boutique flagship property; recently named Travel & Leisure Magazine’s #1 New York business hotel and one of Conde Nast Traveler’s Reader’s Choice Top Ten Hotels in New York City.

About Hyatt Carmel Highlands Overlooking Big Sur Coast:
Perched on a hillside at Carmel Highlands with breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean, Hyatt Carmel Highlands Overlooking Big Sur Coast combines true Carmel luxury with an approachable and sophisticated spirit. A haven for artists and discerning travelers since its opening in 1917, Hyatt Carmel Highlands Overlooking Big Sur Coast features 48 luxuriously renovated guestrooms, including 11 suites, 32 Ocean View rooms and five Garden View rooms. In addition, Hyatt Carmel Highlands Overlooking Big Sur Coast offers spectacular dining at the award-winning Pacific’s Edge restaurant and California Market, 4,800 square feet of meeting space, in-room spa services, heated outdoor swimming pool, three spa tubs and a fitness facility. Situated only four miles from downtown Carmel, Hyatt Carmel Highlands Overlooking Big Sur Coast’s idyllic setting and personalized service has attracted families, weddings, honeymooners and privileged travelers for nearly a century. Hyatt Carmel Highlands Overlooking Big Sur Coast is recognized among the world’s finest hotels as part of Condé Nast Traveler's 2010 Gold List and Travel + Leisure’s 2009 “T+L 500” World’s Best Hotels. http://www.hyattcarmelhighlands.com

Contact:
Marci Bracco Cain
Mountainsong Galleries
PO Box 3396
Ocean Avenue 3 SE Of San Carlos
Carmel-By-The-Sea, CA 93921-3396
831-747-7455
pr@straightlinepr.com
http://www.hyattcarmelhighlands.com

SAFE International Now Offering Toronto Knife Self Defense Courses

Toronto Self Defense, SAFE International Self Defense Experts are now offering Toronto Knife Self Defense Courses in Toronto and all throughout the province.

Toronto, ON, September 30, 2014 - (Straight Line PR) - Toronto Self Defense, SAFE International Self Defense Experts are now offering Toronto Knife Self Defense Courses in Toronto and all throughout the province. SAFE International is the leading provider of mobile self defense training in Toronto, Canada and has expanded internationally with a goal to teach 500,000 people by 2020! SAFE International is now offering knife defense Toronto in private or small group instruction settings which can be taught at your location.


Nothing can quite compare to a hands-on approach when it comes to personal protection. At SAFE International™ they understand that everyday life is busy and finding some practical and effective knife defense is not easy. Unfortunately in today’s world, people are more interested in flashy, fancy, movie style knife defense. But in reality, that is more likely to harm someone that save their life. Any real effective Toronto knife defense course should address the following:

* Honest facts about knife defense including the legal issues one must understand

* Verbal strategies to help one prevent a knife attack

* Most vulnerable areas one must protect if attacked by person with a knife

* Pre-contact cues of a knife attacks including ways a knife is concealed

* Realistic and practical knife concepts including how to Control, Clear, and Counter during a knife attack

* Differences between static and dynamic knife attacks

* Realistic pressure training of knife attacks to give someone a realistic experience of a knife attack.

Plus much more…...

If you would like to find out more information about knife defense in Toronto or anywhere in Ontario, you can visit their main site by going to www.safeinternational.biz You may also contact SAFE International by email at info@safeinternational.biz or call them toll free at 1-800-465-5972

Contact:
Chris Roberts
SAFE International™
15535 Cooper Rd.
Lunenburg, ON
Canada K0C 1R0
1 800 465-5972
http://www.safeinternational.biz

MAX Agency Press Release – September 30, 2014

Ellen has been a part of the film industry for most of her life through the film centre, as a fundraiser and more recently as an actress.

Toronto, ON, September 30, 2014 - Featured in this week’s press release is MAX Agency Toronto talent Ellen Nichols. Ellen has been a part of the film industry for most of her life through the film centre, as a fundraiser and more recently as an actress. I asked Ellen how she got started in the business,


“The only contact I’ve really had with the business was through the film centre. I was their main fundraising person and the construction manager. That was my involvement. I would be asked to step in to do acting for auditions. One day I would be playing a four year old kid and the next an old lady.”

I asked Ellen who she knows in the business and how she met them,

“I ended up being a fundraiser for different charities. The film centre made me a lifetime member and I would speak at events. I introduced Martin Scorsese for The Last Temptation of Christ. I met Robert De Niro in the lobby and escorted him to his seat and another time I introduced Meloche Bohrman. I know Norman Jewison, the actor Gordon Pinsent, Rod Steiger, Liza Minelli and Beau Bridges. I picked up Nicholas Cage and Olympia Dukakis from the airport and took them to their hotel. I met Atom Egoyan and Christopher Plummer when they came to town for the first fundraiser for the Film Centre and I recently auditioned for Atom through MAX for a movie starring Christopher Plummer. I even ate a hamburger with Dennis Hopper.”

How did you join MAX Agency?

“I’ve only been involved in this with MAX because my granddaughter said I should do this. While I was involved with the island airport dispute I was scouted on the street. The scout stopped me and took pictures of me and I remember I had on a fedora, I had on a hat and I gave her my cell phone number. I got a call from MAX Models Toronto and they signed me up and they sent me to the photographer and to an acting class. I had to wait a while because I fell on my elbow and needed surgery so as soon as I got through that I started the acting lessons and they started putting my name forward.”

What acting had you done before joining MAX Agency?

“I haven’t done that many things. For MAX I’ve done a Kevin Drew Video, a retirement video for Riviera, a commercial for Fortnight lingerie so far with MAX. I got the part for a little short film where my character was running off with her ex-boyfriend, I was also in a feature length film and there is another film I’m supposed to be in that hasn’t been shot yet.”

Ellen has more experience in the business than she leads us to believe and she is very optimistic about her future in the business and how things have been so far, “I’ve never made a living as an actor, I sort of fell into this and the more the better. I think if I can just get in the door I can get the part. I’ve been really happy with MAX Agency!”

MAX Agency’s Bookers are currently looking for new Talent! If you are interested we highly recommend visiting maxagency.com and filling out an Application. Wishing MAX continued success in the industry we’re looking forward to the Fall and future press releases featuring individual talent and projects and finding out more about MAX Agency Toronto’s Premier Model and Actor Agency for kid modeling, teen modeling and adults!

Contact:
Natalya O
MAX Agency
2063 Yonge St. Suite 202
Toronto, Ontario M4S-2A2
416-482-5392
info@maxagency.com
http://www.maxagency.com